Precious Energy (Live at Ethell's)

by Ron WynnLeon Thomas and Gary Bartz are two tremendously gifted artists who have had problems with direction and taste. Thomas' seminal works with Pharoah Sanders, Lonnie Liston Smith, Santana, and others in the '70s weren't matched by some things he did in the early '80s, while Bartz's tough combo dates also weren't equaled by some pop-oriented recordings he cut later. The two have since gone back to their strengths and made an excellent team on the 1987 session Precious Energy. Although he doesn't try the ambitious yodeling and special effects he did with Sanders, Thomas does demonstrate the creamy sound and full force of earlier years, while Bartz's solos are once more fluid, strong, and expansive.